Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 1

Amidst the deployment of its transport fleet in the ongoing battle against the COVID-19, the Air Force is procuring over 55,000 personal decontamination kits (PDKs) that are used for providing immediate protection in a nuclear, biological and chemical contaminated (NBC) environment.

According to IAF sources, the procurement of these kits would be done in a staggered manner by taking into account the IAF’s periodic consumption and the equipment’s shelf life.

Part of the procurement would be to replenish expended stocks and part to build up reserves. Procurement of the entire lot in batches is expected to take up to two years, an officer said.

The IAF has deployed its C-17, C-130 and An-32 transporters to ferry medical supplies and emergency equipment to various parts of the country where they are critically required.

PDKs are small, ready-to-use kits that can be worn on a waist belt or carried in cargo pockets and are used to neutralise chemical, biological or radiological agents and toxic industrial materials

IAF aircraft were also used to evacuate stranded Indian nationals from China and Iraq.

“Since IAF operations require some personnel to come in contact with passengers as well as service providers at various stations in an environment where the threat of virus infection is high,” the need for precautions and being prepared for any situation while working in a biologically contaminated environment cannot be understated,” an officer said.

PDKs are small, ready-to-use kits that can be worn on a waist belt or carried in cargo pockets and are used to neutralise chemical, biological or radiological agents and toxic industrial materials that have accumulated on personnel and equipment while in the field.

While PDKs are not intended to replace a complete decontamination process, they can be used in emergency situations.

A few years ago, the Defence Research and Development Organisation had developed a PDK for the forces, which is now being produced commercially by the private industry.

Exposure to micro-organism and hazardous chemicals is not confined to the armed forces in war, but the civilian population at large too can be adversely affected and can be caught unawares at any time, as the current situation has brought out. All three services have their own full-fledged NBC warfare cells and also have at their disposal an array of equipment and materials to mitigate the threat at a large scale.

The National Disaster Management Authority too has drawn up plans to cater to an NBC disaster.